SALEM -- An iguana's life of freedom in a Witch City neighborhood came to a dramatic end yesterday following an hourlong tree rescue by the Animal Rescue League of Boston, as dozens of concerned neighbors watched.
Applause, screams and cheers arose when Mike Brammer of the rescue league caught the iguana as it dropped from a sawed-off tree branch and into his net.
The iguana, a cold-blooded reptile that munches on green vegetables and calls the warm temperatures of Central and South America home, was perched on the edge of a tree branch. Residents in the neighborhood of Winthrop Street reported sightings of the iguana since late August. Residents don't know where the iguana came from.
"It's usually cats," Brammer said. "We really don't get a lot of iguanas stuck in trees."
The Salem police called the rescue league about 4 p.m. after the 2-foot-long reptile was spotted on someone's vehicle. As more and more time went on, neighbors came to watch Brammer and his partner, Bill Tanguay, work to get closer to the iguana, which eventually went up a tree.
By 6 p.m., a small crowd gathered on the front of Rebecca and Laura Brochstein's home at 44 Winthrop St.
Brammer said the iguana went up the tree because that is where the last rays of sun were shining. Iguanas are not native to New England and, as cold-blooded critters, need the sun's heat to stay warm.
"It turned out to be a hairier experience than we thought it would be," said Tanguay, who did much of the grunt work climbing up the tree.
After Tanguay secured himself with ropes, he sawed off the branch the iguana was on and placed the end of the branch with the iguana in his net.
The iguana got out of the net and scurried down the sawed-off branch and then hung from the net.
Children, their parents and neighbors screamed as the iguana got closer to the nearby wires and again when the iguana hung onto the branch with one foot.
Then the iguana could hold on no longer and Brammer caught it in his net.
Brammer and Tanguay didn't want the iguana to get on the ground because it could run away from them and dash any chance of a rescue.
Brammer said the cold weather was having an effect on the iguana, which appeared lethargic. The animal is now in the care of the Animal Rescue League.
Its capture brought an end to a strange but memorable guest in the neighborhood, tucked away on the cusp of downtown between Essex Street and Jefferson Avenue.
Rebecca Brochstein first spotted the iguana in August when she saw neighbors gathered outside her home.
"I went outside they pointed out the iguana to me," Brochstein said.
A week later, she spotted the iguana a second and final time until yesterday's rescue in an evergreen tree in her backyard.
"I saw a tail hanging down, and I thought it was a snake," she said. "I'm just very glad -- with the temperature dropping -- these guys were so quick to respond."
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Bruno Matarazzo Jr.
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